$80 to $20k in 6 months

Posted by Rengar

Posted by Rengar posted in Poker Journals

Posted 10 years, 3 months ago

$80 to $20k in 6 months

Hello guys. This is probably an "ambitious" goal, but I believe it can be done. I have made 3 deposits into online poker in my lifetime. The first time was $15 on pokerstars in 2009. I held onto that $15 for a good 3 months before finally busting. The second time was about 2 months ago, I made a deposit for $80 and busted that in less than a week. The third deposit is the one I just made 3 days ago for another $80. I plan to use proper bankroll management this time. Hopefully I can build a roll before summer and move out to Vegas.

A little about my poker history...

I played a ton of 2nl and $1 sngs on stars in 2009. I was naturally a tight-passive player so I didn't lose my money as fast as most other fish (but in the end I did end up losing it xD.) After losing that deposit, I didn't really play or think about poker much. I only played it because I was 16 with a lot of free time.

I had my first job as a cashier for a local gas station for about 2 years. I made around $340/week there. I saved up and bought a car (minivan) to share with my dad. I basically bought it for him, but I ended up using it a lot more than him (which wasn't my original intentions.) Anyways, I left that cashier job not too long ago and don't really plan on looking for a job anytime in the next 6 months. I should have enough to support my lifestyle during this 6 months of unemployment ;).

More on the poker background...

I took a trip to Atlantic City with my family back in 2012. My cousin was on his break from active duty and wanted me to come out to AC with him, so I did and the rest of the family came a long as well.

My cousin was the best poker player I knew at the time, but now that I look back, he was just an aggro donk with too much money. His personality is a lot different than mine. He's very bold and assertive, whereas, I'm more quiet and reserved. I guess that explains his aggressive play style and my passive play style. He thought me the basics such as, starting hands, position, and betting. Long story short, I ended up turning $100 into $520ish. I spent $300 on dinner for the family (9 people) and I took home the rest. Once I came home, I tried to study poker, but I became bored with it pretty quickly. So I just went on living a normal 9-5 life.

Fast forward to around October this year. I was introduced to online poker again by my cousin. He told me about the sites that still lets US players play for real money. I made an $80 deposit and busted it in a week. After busting, I read a few articles on poker strategy. I watched some videos on starting hand requirements, etc. I even bought hold em manager 2. Because every poker forum I go to, players are posting cool graphs and stuff and I thought it would be necessary for me to have hm2 for that reason. I think I'm ready to become a winning player, but only time will tell.

First deposit :'( r.i.p.

2nd deposit >:o rawwrr

entire graph

My plan is to play 15 hours per day. I will move up when I have 40 bi's for the next limit and move down when I lose 5-10 bi's (maybe).

Wish me luck ;]

7 Comments

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themightyjim 10 years, 3 months ago

15 hours per day! omg! yolo. maybe go outside occasionally.

arizonabay 10 years, 3 months ago

Some friendly advice - 15 hours a day is way too much - you will burn out and I think it might be impossible to make good decisions towards the end of that - so each day you will have 5 hours (being generous) where your decisions will be off really hindering your goal. I applaud your enthusiasm and wish you luck but maybe cut the play down to ~6 hours a day and study for 4? That is still 10 hours a day invested in poker which is a lot - no days off, 70 hours a week. No overtime pay ;)

tempolivre 10 years, 3 months ago

Hi,

don't think in money right now, this could be frustrating. I think that you have to balance your schedule with less play, to much proactive study and live your life with lot of fun, even to your poker skills is important don't burnout and don't create to much expectations around your profit.

Good luck in your journey!

Cory Mikesell 10 years, 3 months ago

I greatly admire your ambition, but I think the quantity over quality approach is doomed to failure. I started playing cash at 25nl in October 2013 and now have a 30k roll and am solidly beating 400nl and 600nl. I have never played more than 4 tables and rarely play more than 4 hours a day. I think what I did is totally possible for you as well if you redirect your focus toward learning and digesting new ideas rather than creating massive volume. I would highly recommend tracking down "Easy Game" by Andrew Seidman, "Let There Be Range" by Slow Habit and CTS, and "No Limit Hold'em: Theory and Practice" by David Sklansky and Ed Miller. I was constantly reading and rereading these books when I was starting out and practically never left home without them. Some of the ideas are obsolete (Especially the second half of NLH T&P), but the main point is to develop a thorough and efficient thought process and I believe these books can help with that.

Here is a sample of what I think your thought process should look like in a given hand (at least this is something similar to what mine looks like for better or worse): Lets say you open QJs on the btn and get called by the BB. The flop come T52r giving you a back door FD and SD. When I bet the flop I say to myself something like "My opponent is pretty tight and straightforward, so on the flop, I plan to bluff him off K high and maybe some A high hands that don't have gutters. I may also get him off 33 and 44. On the turn, I will continue to bluff on my backdoor FD cards, 8x, 9x, Kx, Ax (and valuebet J,Q) and try to take villain off the few 5x he has and 66-99. On certain run outs I may bet the river as a bluff to try and take him off Tx. On the flop I am representing sets, overpairs, and TPs for value"

If you are playing too many tables such that you can't actually articulate this during a hand then I think you are inhibiting your own growth. Cut the tables, review hands and actively work through your thought process. Good Luck!

aehardin 10 years, 3 months ago

I agree with reStacks. Do not doom yourself with quantity over quality. You need to play when you are able to play your A game and nothing else; moreover, you need to balance your playing with off the table studying and analysis of your previous play to see what you did well and what needs improvement.

+1 to recommended "Easy Game" and "Let there Be Range". I'd also recommend adding "Building a Bankroll" by Pawel Nazarewicz, "Poker Math that Matters" by Owen Gaines, "The Poker BluePrint" by Slow Habit, and "Small Stakes NLHE" by Miller to your book reading list.

You need to allocate ample time to working on your game away from the table to effectively improve your game. I started playing again in April of this year and I was like reStacks, never leaving home without my books (put them all on my tablet as eBooks or carried a book around with me). I also only 4-table which allows me to focus on the tables I'm playing 100% and not make hastily sub-par decisions playing multiple tables.

Also, if you can afford it, get a good coach once you hit 25NL or 50NL where it is worth it. There are lots of good coaches with decent hourly rates for micro / small stakes. I would have to say coaching improved my game immensely.

Lastly, join a study group on Skype as well. This way others in a small study group focusing on your game at the same stakes can help you analysis and improve your play.

Good luck to you!